Complexity and Collapse: - Empires on the Edge of Chao

The attached link is to an excellent article by Niall Ferguson from the current edition of Foreign Affairs, titled “Complexity and Collapse – Empires on the Edge of Chaos.”

In his article, Ferguson lays out the thesis that, contrary to the academic version of the life cycles of empires – that they rise, mature, rot, and ultimately self-destruct over a long period of time, that actually, the seeds of destruction for empires are planted, germinate, and are reaped over a shockingly short period of time. 

Examples:  one generation for Rome and just 10 years for the Brits

Here is the link:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24874.htm

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